In a news release on Monday, the White House cited In-N-Out switching to beef tallow as evidence of the success of the Trump administration’s push to “Make America Healthy Again.” But this never actually happened — In-N-Out still uses sunflower oil to cook its French fries, the California burger chain confirmed with the San Francisco Chronicle. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
While the White House news release has since been updated, the Chronicle reported that it had linked to an X post from an In-N-Out fan account: “It’s official. In-N-Out will be transitioning to 100% pure beef tallow.” In a reply to the April post, the account clarified it was an April Fools’ Day joke.
“Information was recently published in error stating that In-N-Out Burger has transitioned to beef tallow for cooking French fries,” Denny Warnick, the chain’s chief operating officer, told the Chronicle. “We continue to work on an upgrade to our current sunflower oil, however we have not yet made a change.”
In-N-Out CEO Lynsi Snyder previously told SFGATE in an email that the chain plans to add an oat milk creamer option and is “researching an even better-quality oil for our fries.”
While In-N-Out has not swapped out its sunflower oil, the company did announce in May that it was making some changes to its menu: switching to ketchup made with real sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup and phasing out artificial food dyes. The White House news release now links to an article about these changes rather than the April Fools’ day prank post about beef tallow.
While Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has touted beef tallow as a healthier alternative to seed oils, medical experts have cited research showing beef tallow is actually worse for heart health due to it being high in saturated fat. The growing negative reputation of seed oils such as those from canola, soybeans and sunflowers, however, has even spread to Bay Area restaurants, despite no medical evidence indicating that they pose serious health risks. Some restaurants like Camino Alto in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow have eliminated seed oils from their kitchens, according to the Chronicle.